Production efficiency of teams in the Premier League and Serie A (2016)

This paper estimates the production functions of professional football teams in the EPL and Serie A using on-the-field performance statistics as input. The identification of the production functions facilitates efficiency rankings within a league as well as cross-league comparisons. Results suggests there exist distinctions in the process of chance creation between the two leagues while goal conversion is universal. With the additional information on player valuation, the implications of the efficiency rankings are thoroughly discussed. In general, for a team to improve, they should preserve their efficient departments and restructure their inefficient departments.